AUTHORS Liyana Adjarova, Energy Agency of Plovdiv Ina Karova, Energy Agency of Plovdiv Ioanna Lepinioti, iMpronta di Massimo Infunti Billy Carslaw, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group EDITORS Massimo Infunti Domenico De Leonardis ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank Mr Domenico De Leonardis, an expert in Mobility Management, for his specialist contribution in the preparation of the present guide. MoMa.BIZÂ website: http://moma.biz Image source: www.eltis.org PROJECT PARTNERS
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BOX 5 - CARSHARING AND VANSHARING Carsharing (in UK also referred to as Car Clubs) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It is suitable for people who make only occasional use of a vehicle and the principle is that individuals gain the benefits of private cars without the costs and responsibilities of ownership (Source: Wikipedia – Carsharing entry, 10/09/2012). Carsharing is considered to be a sustainable mode of transport because it reduces the number of cars on the road, keeps car journeys to a minimum and encourages a more sensible usage of all transport modes including walking, cycling and public transport. More specifically, it has been found that people who frequently use carsharing tend to sell their own cars eventually and start using alternative modes of transportation, like public transport, biking and walking, and drive less overall. It is one of the most practical ways to limit the car use, whilst at the same time encouraging flexibility and independence. In the case of BIZ companies, carsharing can be used as a tool to decrease company travel expenses, reduce the costs of maintaining a company fleet by replacing it with a carsharing service, as well as encourage a more sensible use of cars among the employees and promote cooperation between companies. 4
This Carsharing and Vansharing Box provides a list of actions to be considered in relation to the organisation and promotion of carsharing with the aim to inspire and help business and industrial zones as well as individual companies plan and implement carsharing for their employees. Each action contains a list of key factors for success and possible barriers in the implementation of the action. The Box also contains a list of useful resources and tools available online that can provide support in the implementation of carsharing initiatives. Therefore, if you wish to implement a carsharing scheme in a BIZ then: - Look through the different actions; - Select the most suitable ones for your circumstances; - Implement your actions and promote them.
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5.1 - Carsharing Service Action description: The BIZ offers a carsharing service to the employees.
The companies of a BIZ can greatly benefit by a carsharing service as it can help reduce the costs of business trips as well as the costs of fleet maintenance. The easiest way to offer a carsharing service to employees is through a company membership to an existing carsharing operator. The type of memberships offered may vary from operator to operator but usually all of the company employees can access this through the use of a membership card/cards. In order to make the service more accessible to employees it is advisable that a carsharing pick-up point is created within the BIZ area. This could be easily achieved through an agreement with the carsharing operator. In the case where there is no carsharing operator, the companies of the BIZ could stipulate an agreement with a rental company in order to obtain a similar service or put together their car fleets in order to reduce costs of ownership and increase km/car.
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Key factors for success: - Collaboration with a local carsharing operator or car rental service. - Creation of a pick-up point within the BIZ premises. - Promotion and awareness among employees. Possible barriers: - Investment needed if the BIZ decides to offer its own cars. - Carsharing operators are nonexistent in the vicinity of the BIZ. - Carsharing pick-up points are located far away from the BIZ. Good Practice: - As part of its mobility plan INFICON AG (Balzers, Liechtenstein) signed a “Business CarSharing Master� contract with Mobility CarSharing Switzerland; this included free of charge usage on personal work days.1
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5.2 - Carsharing Incentives Action description: The BIZ provides incentives for employees who use carsharing - financial and nonfinancial.
Employees may be reluctant in using carsharing, especially in the first months of implementation as the use of a carsharing vehicles is not as straight forward as the use of a normal car (i.e. involving a certain procedure for accessing and using the car). Therefore, it is recommended to offer incentives to employees for using carsharing. For example, BIZ companies could reward employees using carsharing as part of their business trip instead of carrying out the entire trip by car. Key factors for success: - Consider carefully which incentives to offer - Establish a system for keeping track of the employees using carsharing - Promotion campaign Possible barriers: - Employees are not attracted by the incentives - Employees are reluctant in changing their mobility behaviour
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5.3 - BIZ well connected to Carsharing Location Action description: The BIZ is well connected by public transport, bike etc. to the nearest carsharing location (when the carsharing service is not located inside the BIZ).
When the carsharing vehicles are located outside the BIZ premises employees will require a means of transport to get to the carsharing location. It is, therefore, important to provide good connections by bike, public transport, or other means of transport so that employees can use the service. This is could be facilitated through a Park & Ride service Key factors for success: - Collaboration with public transport operator. - Carsharing location is easy to reach from the BIZ. - Clear information on how to reach the carsharing location is provided. - Promotion of the service. Possible barriers: - Public transport nonexistent or of poor quality. - Safe bike routes non existent. - Long distance between the carsharing location and the BIZ. - Longer travel time.
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USEFUL RESOURCES AND TOOLS MOMO CAR SHARING http://www.momo-cs.eu/ The project wants to increase awareness, to improve the service of Carsharing and to increase the energy-efficiency within the existing Carsharing operations. MANAGENERGy http://www.managenergy.net/ This is a technical support initiative of the Intelligent Energy - Europe (IEE) programme. Its website includes good practice case studies in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean transport, including carsharing, and have the potential to be replicated. ELTIS http://www.eltis.org/ Eltis facilitates the exchange of information, knowledge and experiences in the field of urban mobility in Europe. Its site includes case studies which present successful examples of urban transport initiatives and strategies giving an insight into the factors of success. UK DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110130183933/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/su stainable/cars/ / A collection of documents for the promotion of carpooling and carsharing. Note: in the material carpooling is referred to as car sharing, whereas carsharing is referred to as car clubs.
REFERENCES Eltis – The Urban Mobility Portal: http://www.eltis.org
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